30 November 2007

good news / bad news. Onsite gig / blocked access to intertubes. The latter may be the deal breaker. I have a possible gig to keep me afloat for a couple of months. Problem is, it's onsite at a place I've worked before - no internet access. Which is an enormous pain to a free agent who uses gmail nonstop to communicate with all my clients.

Breaking (scary) news CNN link, whatever. Someone walked into a Hillary 08 office with a bomb and took hostages!
I don't give a shit WHO you support, but how DARE someone try and use violence to subvert the process!

Hypothetical Question. Say you're living in a weird parallel world where you've been convicted of a thought crime and you're due to be executed. As part of your last meal, you get up to three hours to watch anything on a TV that contained all the worlds TV & Film from all time. What would you watch, and why?

"During the 17th century, which I think was probably the dirtiest century in Western history, people put on perfume so they wouldn't smell their neighbors." Salon.com link; you may have to let an ad play first

HAY GUISE ITS A MEETUP Yes, again. I know it's been a month of Sundays since I posted here, but in my defense I've been doing the wacky paramedic thing and working full time and haven't been posting but boy have I been reading and you people are a bunch of pervos.

So come see skinned people and drink and eat and suchlike in San Josie this Saturday. Hokay? LERVE.

Yahoo! NFL Pick-em reminder The first game is on a Thursday this week: that's TONIGHT! I see that 3 people haven't made their picks yet; you have to get them in by kick-off time (tonight at 7:10pm EST).→Read more...

MetaChat Webcams? Over the past few weeks/months #bunnies have put up with me and my webcam fixation. And while bored one day we mentioned how fun it would be to have a one-stop place to view fellow MetaChat member's webcams. YMMV. Feel free to add yours!

I'm shipping out to the Navy in three weeks! Long time reader, first time poster. I'm mostly excited but a little nervous too. I signed up back in May, so I've had plenty of time to prepare. I think I'm ready and I'm really excited to start a new chapter of my life.

SeattleAskMetaChatNewGlassesFilter Circumstances demand I get new spectacles and it's been so long I don't know where to start. So, if anyone here has some suggestions as to eye doctors and/or purveyors of hip to retro hip glasses, I am all eyes.→Read more...

26 November 2007

This week, on Photo Friday: Looks Like Suggested by hellbient on the wiki page a while ago. His description was "nondescript things that resemble something specific", but I'd like to make it broader. So get ready to post pictures of stuff that looks like other stuff. People could be acceptable too. I'm putting iconomy in charge of picking the theme for 12/7.

The deal isn't quite as great as they claim (they claim it normally costs $200, but really it's closer to $135), but it still comes out to a savings of about $40 over the normal box set cost. Also - 10 cents cheaper per disc than last time!

25 November 2007

Quotable Quote in this season of socializing. Igor Cassini, the society columnist, asked Bernard Baruch how he arranged the seatings for all the notables who attended his dinner parties. "I never bother about that," Baruch assured him. "Those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter."

Help me with some unconventional holiday music? I'm having my annual holiday party in early December and have been charged with compiling the playlist. Tell me what your favorite unconventional holiday music is, please. To give you a sense of what I'm looking for, although it's horribly overplayed (in New York bars, at least), I do really like "Fairy Tale of New York," by The Pogues. There's no requirement that the music must be specifically related to Christmas, nor is there any limitation on genre.

Silly question: Just how many registered members are there here at MetaChat? More than 1% the 60K at MetaFilter? I also wonder how the number of 'active participants' compares, though that would require some serious data analysis.→Read more...

How do you deal with accumulation of papers, magazines, books... letters, receipts, software and hardware manuals, holiday cards and postcards from friends and relatives, notebooks of ideas, notes to yourself, and all of the other dead-tree stuff that piles up in your life?→Read more...

I am VERY VERY ANGRY. I just checked the mail. We just got some kind of crap letter from some white power racist organization. With a pamphlet that condembs mixed race marriages. In other words-DISSING MY GRANDBUN.→Read more...

Any body ever worked a office secretary job before? What was it like ? Any advice on what a n00b could learn and do to better prepare for this? It's for a largish textile company. I imagine I would have to practice typing with whatever educational software is out there and I have never used Microsoft office before either; I think they use 2003. Would it help to learn 2007 as well? Any experienced or tricks of the trade would be helpful.

This is a disappointed thread. I was supposed to be heading to the big city tonight, spending the evening drinking wine and hanging out at Zack_Replica's, but it ain't gonna happen. *sigh*→Read more...

What are your feelings on spanking children? My friend and I were at a restaurant the other day with his four year old son. His son is a good kid, but started getting a little rambunctious and wild, as most four year olds do. My friend remarked he would spank him, but someone might call the police. Apparently this is something a lot of parents have to deal with today. My friend is also a cop. What do you all think of spanking kids? I would like to hear opinions from law enforcement, people who would call cops, people who still spank regardless and parents and non-parents in general.

How did you decide upon what you wanted to do in life? I'm at a career crossroads. I've gone through and done what seemed to be the right thing to do up until now. But, I'm not passionate at all about what I do. I try to dream about what I want to do, but can't break free of the chains or practicality.

How do I find that one thing that I'm passionate about. Any books, websites, resources, or personal anecdotes are appreciated.

happy thanksgiving! I am in Scotland, but I really want turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce for dinner later! Boo. Oh well. I am really thankful for a lot of stuff. What are you thankful for?→Read more...

British InvasionI know TV is on hold for the moment, but I'm going to talk about it anyway. There certainly are plenty of British actors sporting fake accents on American television these days. →Read more...

Every critic LOVED the new Coen brothers film. Everybody but Jonathan Rosenbaum. His Coen-loving readers fight back. My favorite comment: "Rosenbaum supported and apologized for regimes that really carried out mass murders in the tens of millions. Yet, he's completely blind to HIS OWN history. We may like 'mass murderers' on the screen, but Rosenbaum likes them in politics--as long as the mass murders are in the name of radical progress."

First off, was Michigan the only place to have two-square in addition to four-square? My girlfriend and I have been playing it lately (and will challenge any LA-area MeCha-zin to a game), and we've had to explain it to everyone we've mentioned it to.

Second, what are your house rules? A brief list of the ones I know is inside.→Read more...

Send warm thoughts, plz. Thx. Today and tomorrow I'm pressure washing a client's deck. It's supposed to be 6C, max (that's about 42F). Well water is cold, also. And wet. Brrrrrr! I'm shivering just thinking about it. *tells her toes that everything will be okay*→Read more...

I HATE baking! Hate, hate hate So, we're doing the Thanksgiving thing at work, and the only stipulation is that the food you bring you must make yourself. I happen to have some blueberries I need to use up, so I decide on muffins. "How hard can it be?" I says to self, apparently forgetting that those are the 5 words most likely to get me in trouble right after "Sure, make mine a double."

And now it's after midnight. The first batch an utter disaster. (Easy-release pan, my ass.) Second batch is sad, so I'm going for the third batch. If this doesn't work, I'm going to tell them, "Yeah, I made it. I made the trip to Wal-mart."

Last Minute Denver Meetup? The BF and I will be in town for a wedding... arriving late Thursday November 29th and leaving sometime Sunday December 2nd. The wedding is on the 1st, but I don't know what time of day or night. Sound maybe almost possible for anyone?

Overnight kitty My cat has to stay overnight at the vet so that they can collect a urine sample. He's going to be alone from 9pm - 7:30am. What do you think about that? Some vet type details inside. →Read more...

Does anyone still eat cereal out of the mini boxes by punching out the perfortions and making a slit through the wax paper and pouring milk into it? I just bought some mini boxes and they still have the perforations on them. As a kid I thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Ask Mecha Rats. I have home computer issues and I don't know who can help me. That's my question: who helps poor sad people like me whose computers are misbehaving and what can I expect from them?→Read more...

The War Machine is not conducive to evolution. [ny times] WTFFFFFFF? Is the pattern not completely obvious to anyone who can fucking do something about it? When is the Karma ticket going to come up for the greedy selfish bastards running this circus?

18 November 2007

Broadway Strike Update The League of Theatres & Producers and the stagehands union were in negotiations all weekend, but they just fell apart. Performances of all but the 8 unaffected shows canceled through next Sunday, November 25th (aka through the huge Thanksgiving holdiay weekend). I expect we'll start to see closing notices in the next day or two. This sucks.

Ask MeCha: Story ID. I vaguely remember reading either a short story or novel about a woman who was a research assistant and/or wife to a professor who was studying the bog people in ...Scotland? Romance/horror, from what I remember. Any memories stirring?

Ask Mecha: Girlzone? Is Metachat a girlzone? I ask because similar questions have come up lately, and somebody suggested that it is, and I'd never thought about it that way, and, hmm, maybe there's something to it. So, is Metachat a girlzone? If it's not, what is? What's a girlzone, anyway?

(I might as well remind everybody that this isn't the place for making fun of Mefi folks. And mods, if this isn't an appropriate post, please delete.)

Cat food in a pinch? There's a neighbourhood cat that is constantly trying to get into my house. I don't know who the owner is, but sometimes my neighbour takes it in overnight. Tonight I gave in and let it come inside. Does anyone have any advice for me on how to rig up a temporary litterbox or what kind of food a cat can eat. I do have a bag of dog food - can it eat that?

eMusic users? I found some old posts indicating that a few of us are. So have we ever done a Posting of the Nicknames? It takes a lot of (fun) digging every month for me to find stuff I want to spend my downloads on, and going through other people's downloads is a good resource. I'm thekassette.→Read more...

I actuallly responded to a piece of junk mail. We went to one of those vacation club/timeshare promo sales meetings and walked out two hours later with a free turkey and two free airline tickets. →Read more...

stuck in pub on a slow news day Strictly T&A: spoilt feline rides in car; large breasts featured on bad reality tv show; Amy Winehouse drunk onstage... this is why I don't take a newspaper. →Read more...

How much work is that swan in the window? This morning as I was waiting for the bus and looking up at my house, I started thinking about how much Iíd like to make a stained glass panel for the upper panel of the little window that is in my bedroom closet (in what my dad calls "the mistress room"). The panel has to be rather small (maybe 9Ē by 4Ē) so I canít do anything too elaborate Ė I know Iíll wind up in a straightjacket if I have to do something with a million wee pieces. So this morning I browsed the net searching for a good pattern. And just thought I'd bore present you with a monologue about my pickiness design process.→Read more...

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN... Quoting that link... "all Supreme Court decisions since 1754." There was a Supreme Court 22 years before the Declaration of Independence? Did I miss something in American History class?

A friend's blog about about his death. Another blog mention. If you don't know who he was, well, I knew him as an artist and an inspiration, despite his questionable past. He died October 28 in Dallas, Texas. I attended his memorial service, which was small but emotional. He will be missed. I collaborated with him on many theme parties and art installations. The most recent photo of George I have, including myself with tie... Good night, Prince Crazie.

Since Monday, I have been looking foward to using my lunch hour today to finish up a book for one of my courses. Did I bring that book with me to work today? Of course not. I guess I will instead use today's lunch hour to learn distance speed reading.

And I'm all out of bubble gum For the next several weeks, I need to be kicking ass and taking names. Surely, I cannot be the only one in such a position. Therefore, I give you Killa Bunnies to aid in your ass-kicking.

Pssst! Wanna see some dirty pictures? I tried taking some long-awaited photos of the house last night, for my parents, who ask me every time we speak... but I'm wrangling with my flash, which wants to either blow everything out, or just lay down and die. Anyway... →Read more...

I just managed to switch into all the classes that I wanted, because I basically have been hitting "Refresh" on the course section page constantly for the past two days until they opened up additional spots. Being addicted to the intenet finally pays off. Take that, online registration!

Vacant homes send crime rocketingEighty-five bungalows dot the cul-de-sac that joins West Ontario Avenue and East Ontario Avenue in Atlanta. Twenty-two are vacant, victims of mortgage fraud and foreclosure. Now house fires, prostitution, vandals and burglaries terrorize the residents left in this historic neighborhood called Westview Village.→Read more...

Bank Intern Busted by Facebook -- Kevin Colvin e-mailed his boss to say that he'd miss work due to what colleagues took to be a 'family emergency.' His boss turned to Facebook and found a photo of Colvin, dressed as a fairy at a Halloween party -- one which he apparently missed work to attend. The boss attached the image to his reply, copying the rest of the office as he did it. An Internet star/meme is born!

Loscil , a mostly one-man band from Vancouver, BC creates music that reminds me of billowing clouds, those lights you see when you rub your eyes, and distant ringing bells. Several examples inside...→Read more...

Where to buy stuff in Buffalo, NY? We're doing the cross border shopping thing tomorrow, driving to Buffalo. I've only ever driven past there, so I have no idea where to go. Any tips on stores, specifically clothing outlets, a place to get nice modern bathroom faucets, and a guitar store? Strange combo, I know.

SCORE! Here's what my husband found sitting in its wooden case by a garbage dumpster on his way home, this exact model, with exactly the same decals, etc., though not pristine as this one is. →Read more...

Game geeks (like me) might appreciate this video of Lara Croft and the Prince of Persia doing "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better". Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat (I didn't know he could kind of sing) do the actual singing.

The current front page art has been brought to you by misteraitch (top), shane (middle), and deborah & mudpuppie (bottom) on the left, and Wendell on the right sidebar. The theme is "notes to ourselves". :)

08 November 2007

Holgapocalyptiphotos I'm about to drive from Milwaukee to Chicago (hopefully the Yogi tea will keep me awake) but I've spent the evening processing the giant files from the "Holga-Cam of the Apocalypse" (aka the Plastic Fantastic) and wanted to share. Bye, bye Wisconsin; I will miss your cheap beer until next week.

It's all happening so much earlier this year! Our local park already has poinsetta arches over the walkways; the local warehouse-grocery store is full of (fake) Xmas trees for sale; and retailers are already moaning about how it'll be their worst year ever.

any math aficionados out there? i was just listening to aphex twin's "windowlicker" single a few minutes ago, and i got to wondering about the second track (the one with the hidden picture viewable only if you look at a spectral analysis of the track), which is titled thusly.

Fryderyk Chopin: Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2 I know, what a catchy title right? I love this piece though. It makes me wanna get naked with my honey and play games under the covers. Anybody else get that feeling? No? Maybe I'm just a weirdo.

I want a Clark Bar. I was reading Steve Almond's Candyfreak (a great book by a nice guy who gave me lots of free candy when I met him) and he describes going to the Necco factory and watching Clark's get made, which set off the craving. I searched a bunch of stores in the area, but none have them. They have 5th Avenue bars which are close, but not the same. Drag.

Wonders Never Cease First, MySpace got their shit together (by which, I mean they ripped off facebook) and now Yahoo! Mail has revamped their creaky old interface. Even the blue looks a different these days. Who's next? Which popular site is most in need of a makeover?

Kitchen Mysteries? Ask and Answer! Here are some things I'd like to know: how/where do you keep your dry cereal? How do you keep your vegetables? Did you have mold/mildew in that seam behind the kitchen sink where the wall meets the counter? How did you get rid of it? And more!... →Read more...

Parents and Casual Gamers beware. If you want to buy a Nintendo Wii for this Christmas period, it might be a good idea to go shopping for it now. I'm trying to find a supplier in the UK that isn't scalping an extra $200 for trying to buy the thing everyone else wants to buy. No luck so far.

Dance party in the kitchen! At midnight! YouTube + pasta sauce simmering for a long time + absent roommate + bizarre surge of energy at the end of a long day despite intense hunger = turning all the lights off and dancing around the house like the diva/madman I am.→Read more...

I have an emergency AskMe As in, I won't be able to get to work tomorrow (only 2nd day on new job!) if I can't solve this problem. If no one can answer it here, will someone let me use their question?→Read more...

My life is one big Metachat. I went to the shoe outlet out of town. Instead of musak, they were playing a satellite radio station totally and exclusively dedicated to Springsteen stuff. That's right. All Springsteen. All the time. →Read more...

Who else is doing NaNoWriMo this year? I heard about it last year, and then got Chris Baty's book from the library about a week back. It gave me the inspiration needed to finally write the novel I've always wanted to write.→Read more...

Funny Quotes Thread: "The Atlanta International Airport is now considering shorter flushes in its bathrooms to help cope with the drought. Shorter flushes on their toilets. Or as Sen. Larry Craig calls that, speed dating." -- Jay Leno

Bunnies, help me to kill! or at least gently dissuade. I have an hibiscus that is full of aphids. This page has lots of ideas for repelling them... but I'd like to know if you've had experience with any particular technique that worked great?

04 November 2007

I am trapped on the couch. The BF fell asleep while leaning me and I'm stuck. I can reach the laptop, but not the water or the food. My phone has just alerted me to a new message and my left arm is asleep.

This post is for you just in case you're one of the many who have been wondering what it would look like if someone chewed up Starbucks pastries and then spit them out and painted a portrait of Britney Spears with them.

Why're all the flags at half mast? I noticed today on campus that all our flags are at half mast. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who was visiting from Kansas, and she said that they were like that last weekend down there as well, so it's not just an Iowa thing. Am I missing something obvious? Or is it just a coincidence that two states have mandated half-mastyness and gave me the impression that it was a nationwide thing?

gmail issues, redux I know a few of us were having trouble. I switched to the https://mail.google.com/mail/ address (the secure version), and now I don't have any problems logging in and don't seem to get stuck in the endless "loading" cycle. Thought I'd share, in case the same trick helps anyone else.

03 November 2007

I'm a fan of Iron Chef America for all the usual reasons. But I have an idea. The 'secret ingredient' is almost always some prized foodstuff like Kobe beef or heirloom tomatoes or truffles. Anybody can make a great meal out of stuff like that. I think that for a block of episodes they should have secret ingredients like Spam or Bologna or Marshmallow Fluff. It would be funny and it would provide the chefs with a real challenge. I'd definitely watch.

Radio Mecha - Music Box It'sa me, on the Radio Mecha, playing I'm-not-sure-what, though there will definitely be some soul in there. Please listen, if you're so inclined. Or, if you'd like me to get off so that you can broadcast, just say the word.